Magnum Pleasure - Pop Up Store - Pitt St Mall, City

The Magnum Pleasure Pop Up store in Pitt St is a touch of indulgence right in the middle of the CBD. For $8, you can go wild with Magnum ice cream.  The menu is pictured above.

Location: Level 2, Cnr Pitt Street Mall and Market Street, Sydney 2000

Price: $8 per ice cream

Duration: 27 August to 19 October, Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat 9.30am-6.30pm; Thu 9.30am-9pm; Sun 10am-6pm

In three easy steps, you can have the most satisfying ice cream.

1.You start off by choosing a milk, dark or white chocolate coated ice cream.
2. Then you choose from 3-4 toppings from a choice of 18.
3. Finally you finish off with a drizzle of milk, dark or white chocolate.

My beautiful creation (above) had hazelnuts, honeycomb pieces, dried strawberries and rose petals. It was drizzled with dark chocolate and there was also a white chocolate. It was delicious!

The bottom creation was amazing too which had hazelnuts, almonds, vanilla crumble and coconut flakes! It was drizzled with milk chocolate and topped with a vanilla magnum button.  I loved this creation!

This photo below speaks for itself....

Black by Ezard, Pyrmont, The Star

Are you ready for a bit of posh dining ?  Black by Ezard has a special Champagne Sunday lunch which is sure to indulge any foodie or boozer.  For $125.00 you can lavishly eat three courses and limitless glasses of Moet Champagne. Or alternatively; choose two courses for $70.00 and buy your own booze. If you are really looking to eat then choose the three courses for $85.00 and buy your own booze.

Black by Ezard was Awarded one hat by SMH's good food guide in 2013.  The meal started with sweet bread, butter and black pepper from Hawaii (or so the waitress advised). I opted for the buy your own booze deal with two courses.

(Above) Delicious cocktail of Velvet Martini at $20 which consists of vanilla vodka, passionfruit, honey, apple and orange blossom.

(Below) A glass of Pierre Amadieu Shiraz Grenache Mouvedre.  A medium full bodied red wine.

The entree of medley of mushrooms with sexy textures of fried, steamed and fried mushrooms.  It was beautifully presented and was surprisingly light but filling at the same time. A really elegant and tasty
dish.

The ocean trout was also another entree option.  What a picture! With orange jelly, crunchy bits, caviar.

I opted for the Fillet grass fed angus (200g) with roasted cauliflower, pearl onion salad with gremolata.  The meat was thick so it was not evenly cooked.  It was medium-rare in the middle (at my request) but on the thinner parts of the meat, it was more medium. I didn't mind. It was a tasty piece of meat.

To accompany the main, there were a variety of sauces including two different mustards and a sweet BBQ steak sauce.  I also ordered additional sides at $10 each.  At posh prices, the portions were very small but all portions were tasty.  The potato puree (mash) was smooth and creamy.  The chips were crispy and well seasoned.  The mac and cheese was crunchy at the top and beautifully cheesy.

The duck main was immaculately cooked. What a picture! It was plated with beauty!  The King Fish was  the highlight main of the day.  It was also perfectly cooked and the skin was slightly cripsy which is how I like it.

I was really fortunate to taste a lot of my company's entrees. I actually choose the dessert, which is a lemon cake with little snow-like powder. It was sweet, sour and sugary.  All components of a successful dessert.

It looks like there's a new menu on Sunday's now so I'm glad I got to taste these treats.

Location: 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Taste of Shanghai, CBD World Square

It's time to go a little bit prawn crazy.  While Taste of Shanghai is typically known for your dumplings, I decided to blitz my dinner with salt and pepper prawns, prawns and noodles with a side of dumplings.

I've had some amazing eating memories at Taste of Shanghai but this evening was something different. The salt and pepper prawns were amazingly tasty. I think the number of prawns were great value.  The batter was light, crispy and had a great balance of both salt and pepper.  I bit into the chili and spring onions which perfectly accompanied the prawns.

I cannot go to Taste of Shanghai without mentioning the Xiao Long Bao at $9.90.  Those soup filled dumplings that burst into your mouth are so very delicious.  I love dipping them into my mix of sauce of chili sauce, 80% vinegar and 20% of soy sauce. They warm your insides and please your belly.

The perfect mix of textures also included some of the the Stir Fry Shallot Noodles with Prawns.  The noodles were stir fried which was a hit of oil but not enough to overpower your palette. Another generous portion of prawns.

I brought a bottle of pinot grio and paid corkage for the perfect night of food and good company. I love this food escape which sits at the bottom of World Square. I've had a lot of great memories here with my bikie guitar teacher and other friends.

Doodles Noodles, North Sydney

Are you ready to try a mind blowing chili ? Deceivingly sweet smelling, the home brewed chili at Doodles Noodles is a new level of spice. Try a small spoonful (I went overboard with a few teaspoons) in a nice wonton noodle dish. I always choose fresh rice noodles to accompany the green vegetables and pork/prawn wontons. If you're game, you can also double dip in a different chili sauce.

Doodles Noodles is a nice cheap and dirty Asian eatery in North Sydney. This eatery is hidden in the arcade from Mount St into Berry square. A nice place for a cheap but fulfilling meal - you must try a little bit of the chili. Don't leave without a slight taste.

Don't expect anything too classy or clean at this eatery, eating in is not the most pleasant experience but you go there for the food (in this circumstance) not the decore !  But if you're not bothered by this then definitely give the wonton noodle soup a go!

Prices: Most dishes are $8 to $12 so you can order a very fulling and large bowl of your choice!

Mitzu, Macquarie Centre

Unfortunately, Mitzu is worthy of it's 31% rating with a very disappointing sushi train experience.  The sushi does not taste fresh, it's over sauced and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. I think this was completely over priced for what it was.

The rice was cold and stale. Ick. $3.30 was a special price for the red plates and the white plates are $5.50.  Completely over priced. Hopefully they pick up their game after they renovate.  I paid $15 for lunch which left me wishing I had just gone to McDonalds instead.

Avoid this place like the plague. For now.  But it would take some convincing for me to go back.

National Association of Women in Construction Awards, The Star

I recently attended the National Association of Women in Construction Awards which was held at the event room at the Star. These awards recognise and celebrate achievement in the construction industry.  The Construction Industry is a challenging environment and NAWIC NSW does a lot of great work in advancing women in this industry.

It was a great night hosted by Deborah Hutton. Check out their facebook for more information.

The night started with a butternut pumpkin and ricotta agnelotti with asapragus, sage butter and toasted pumpkin seeds. The pasta was perfectly cooked I loved biting into those pillows of pumpkin.

This was then followed by a slowly roasted corn fed chicken breast, truffled cauliflower puree, silver beet, baby cherry tomato, crispy pancetta and tarragon jus.  I couldn't really taste the truffle in the cauliflower but the chicken was perfectly cooked. The sides had a lot of different textures including silver beet, cauliflower and tomato were perfect with the chicken.

For dessert, there was a selection of dessert canapes of new york cheese cake, passion fruit curd with caramelised pineapple, dark chocolate with salted caramel tart with raspberry marshmellow.  I had the pleasure of tasting the cheesecake and the passion fruit curd.  Very tasty.

I enjoyed this meal with a glass of the Bossa Barossa Shiraz which was from the Barossa Valley SA.

A great night for women in construction! Congratulations to all those that were nominated and the winners who have had great accomplishments within the industry.

The guys at the Star were great.

Green Peppercorn, Fairfield

Green Peppercorn is the Thai foodgasm heaven in the West.  A new Thai favourite of mine. It's so popular that you may be queuing here longer than any line at Ryo's or Jamie's Italian so my advice is to get there at 5:25pm on a Saturday night so you can be there to join the queue before it opens.  I also suggest going with a few friends so you have plenty of choice when it comes to sharing meals.

Now prepare yourself for a banquet of delights and food heaven.

For entree, I had a bit of the satay chicken skewers (4 for $10.90) and also the vegetable curry puffs (4 for $8.90).  Satay chicken is always a good starter but I really liked the vegetable curry puffs with sweet chili sauce. I loved the crumb on the curry puffs. Yum.  Look at that satay sauce!

I came here with three other people and we all agreed that the stand out main of the night was the Masaman beef curry ($16.90).  Think perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth braised chunky tender beef in a thick mild curry with sweet potatoes, peanuts and spices of star anise and cinnamon. It was like a smooth waltz in your mouth. Delicious!

The Pad Thai with chicken was good value at $12.90.  Beautifully cooked and seasoned glass noodles with all the trimmings including a mountain of bean sprouts, tofu, peanuts and sugar/chili to the side.

The very noodley Pad See Eww with beef (above at $12.90) was amazing! With a big splash of sugar, sweet soy sauce flavour, the flat rice noodles were amazing and complemented all the trimmings of egg and vegetables. Perfect for those who are not spice fans. I loved it!

Another popular dish for the non-spice fans would be the Pad Cashew Nut Stir fry with chicken ($12.90).  The dish has oriental vegetables in a chili jam cashew nut sauce. A nice dish.

Sushi Hotaru, Sydney

Sushi Hotaru is a very popular sushi train in the Galleries Shopping Centre. Where most dishes are $3 and are amazingly fresh, tasty and appealing to the eye.  Order your freshly made sushi via the little screen or pick your sushi favourites off the train.

You can also request customer service and order drinks through the screen as well! Love the technology!

I love the seared spicy salmon which I always order off the screen so it's funky fresh at $3.  I love the fact that you have a bite and it's fresh salmon sashimi and seared salmon in one.  My other regular order is the eel at $3. I opted for the original version without the cream cheese but the Eel sushi with cream cheese is tempting.

I went wild recently at Sushi Hotaru and ordered all my must haves! It's been almost six months since I've been to sushi Hotaru and boy do I miss this place!

My other must haves include the spicy scallop nigiri (below) at $3.  The scallops are so fleshy and tasty.  I love it. I followed this with a plain prawn nigiri ($3) which was tasty.

My last two dishes were amazing.  I choose off the train with some takoyaki balls which contain octopus and floury pancake textures.  My final dish was amazing which was the spicy tuna.  It's a must order!

Prices: 6 dishes of sushi at $3, washed down with green tea will cost you a $20 lunch or dinner.

Location: level 2, the galleries shopping centre @ 500 George St